Portable jewel cases



Nov. 29, 1960 G. M. ADAMS 2,962,156

PORTABLE JEWEL CASES Filed Dec. l1, 1958 Patented Nov. 29, 1,960L

2,962,156 PoRrABLE JEWEL cAsEs George Mervyn Adams, Walsall, England, assignor to George Sheldon (Walsall) Limited, Walsall, Staffordshire, England, a British company Filed Dec. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 779,745

Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 21, 1957 3 Claims. (Cl. 20645.14)

This invention relates to portable jewel cases of the type comprising a case body having a lid, Hap or like closure provided with means for releasably fastening it to the body, the interior of the case containing means for releasably holding articles of jewellery, such as iinger rings, earrings, studs, cuff links and so on.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide such a jewel case with simple and inexpensive means whereby rings or the like can be held, displayed, and selected to the users greater advantage than heretofore.

According to the present invention the portable jewel case is provided with a rotary drum having several yieldable pockets extending from the exterior of the drum towards the axis thereof, said pockets being adapted to receive and hold for display jewellery articles inserted therein, and permit of easy removal and replacement.

Preferably, the drum is constructed of several resilient segments, made of sponge material, the ends of the segments being held between end caps connected by an axis of rotation. Adjoining segments are biased towards one another so that their adjacent surfaces provide an intervening longitudinal pocket.

For a better understanding of the invention, a form of construction of rotary jewel holder incorporated with the inside of the lid of a jewel case is illustrated, by way of example, on the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the jewel case with the lid shown in the open position and illustrating the rotatable jewel holder presented for use.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the jewel holder broken away at supporting brackets to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the dotted line B B Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail to a larger scale illustrating two resilient segments in the preliminary stage prior to being tensioned into the state seen in Figs. l-

As will be observed in the example of construction illustrated in the drawing, the jewel case comprises a rectangular body 5 and a corresponding lid 6 hinged thereto at 7, the body being divided into several compartments of which the compartment 8 has a greater capacity than the compartments 9. The underside of the lid 6 mounts a rotary jewel holder comprising a drum 10 which is rotatable on a generally horizontal axis 11. The drum 10 is provided with several longitudinally extending pockets 12 adapted to receive jewellery, especially inger rings indicated at 13, the inherent resiliency of the pockets 12 serving to grip the shanks of the rings 13 under compressive stress so that the rings are held in the pockets 12 for display yet their easy removal and replacement is permitted. The drum 10 is constructed of several resilient cushion sections 14 of substantially sector shape. Each cushion section 14 comprises a strip of sponge rubber, plastic or like resilient pad, a pair of such cushion Sections each being mounted on a. relatively rigid rein- 2 l. n forcing strip 15, and being embraced by soft flexible material 16 which is folded around the section 14 and strip 15 so as to form the intervening kU-shape pocket 12 bef tween adjoining surfaces and extending from the mouth towards the axis of the drum 10.. The extreme' inner end of the exible covering 16 is fastened to the corner-:Voii two adjoining strips 15 as by sewing the material thereto at 18. The result is that the exible covering 16 is tensioned so that the cushion sections 14 are urged towards one another thus squeezing the adjoining surfaces 17 under the inherent resiliency of the cushion sections 14.v

Consequently, when the shank of a ring 13 is pushed into a pocket 12 the latter is partially opened and the shank is gripped under resilient pressure so that rings cannot become detached inadvertently. The several cushion sections 14 are held in the assembled position seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 by means of caps 19 which embrace the ends of the cushion sections 14 and hold them against displacement, the said caps each having an axial hole 20 for reception of the axle 11 which is supported for rotation in coaxial holes 21 formed in upright supports 22 of brackets 23 secured to the inside of the lid 6. In this construction the drum 10 is provided with four longitudinally extending cushion pockets 12 as above described whilst employing eight sections 14. The several pockets 12 are separated by intervening spacing strips 23 disposed at right angles' between adjoining cushion sections 14, these spacing strips 23 serving as abutments for urging pairs of cushion sections 14 towards one another in a squeezing manner so that in addition to the tension provided by the ilexible covering 16, the cushion sections 14 have a further bias tending to close the mouth of the pockets 12.

The detail of Fig. 4 serves to illustrate the make-up of a pair of cushion sections 14 prior to being tensioned and assembled to the drum 10. The back of each cushion section 14 is cemented to the strip 15 which is common to both sections 14; the strip 15 is scored at the sewing line 18 so that the scoring forms a hinge (Fig. 2). The ilexible covering material 16 isl permanently connected to the strips 1'5 by its ends being cemented to the exterior of the strip 15. One of the latter has the spacing strip 23 secured to the exterior of the strip 15.

The ends of the axle 11 are screw threaded for reception of nuts 11a for detachably mounting the drum 10 on the uprights 22.

It will be appreciated from the above description that by providing the case with a rotary pocketed drum 10, articles of jewellery such as nger rings, cuff links and other small personal articles can be easily inserted in the pockets 12 and gripped by the covered cushion sections 14, so that they will not become detached inadvertently as the drum 10 is rotated for inspection prior to selection of a particular piece.

It will be further appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the details of construction above described and that modifications may be made without departing from the basic ideas expressed herein.

I claim:

1. A portable jewel case comprising a support, a drum mounted for rotation on said support, said drum including several radially resilient pockets extending along the length of said drum, eaoh pocket being constructed of two resilient cushion sections mounted on relatively rigid supporting bases, with the pocket intervening between two adjacent surfaces of said sections, a flexible covering of sheet material extending around said cushion sections and lining said pocket, the ends of said sheet material being secured to said bases and said sheet material being maintained in a state of tens'ion thereby to exert compressive stress acting to press said cushion sections towards one another and exerting pressure tending to close the Said lined poeket,`end caps engaging the respective ends of I said cushion sections, and means retaining said caps in engagement with said ends so as to hold the said cushion sections, against displacement. i 'j 2i A jewel ca seaccordingto-claim 1, wherein anaxle boutiwhich `the drum is mounted for rotation has screw threadedends received in axial holes in said caps, said endsv being engaged and supported in coaxial holes in brackets formingsaid support, and nuts engaging said ends.

j Y '4 j 3. A jewel case according to claim 1, wherein adjoining cushion sections are separated by intervening spacing strips.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES `PATENTS 846,133 McIntyre Mar. 5, 1997 2,463,644 Reid Mar. 8, 1949 2,511,730 McClain June 13, 1950 10 2,861,682 Hatcher Nov. 25, 1958 

